VoID into Dreams
by Madhog thy Master
Summary: Can a dream be... Void? You should have seen this coming... My 30th submission to this site. Set after the events of "Il-Lumina-ted"... Or maybe, before? Who knows? Who cares?
1. Chapter 1

**Void:** empty, hollow space who can be filled. It could also be referred to an emotional state.

**Jester:** joker, buffoon, clown or simply, fool. A jester's imperative is to have fun and / or make fun of others or with others… To fill others with joy.

**Dream:** something that it's not supposed to be… Empty.

* * *

**… _To die, to sleep, perhaps, to dream…_**

**"Hamlet" William Shakespear.**

* * *

**VOID INTO DREAMS**

* * *

**1.**

Was he dead? Did he die? Was it all an illusion? Was it all just a dream… Therefore a reality of its own?

Lots of questions crossed his mind… As usual, none of them found its answer.

He was not supposed to be there… Not alone… Not at all… If a "there" existed, of course.

Something has gone horribly wrong during his inter-dimensional journey. He was supposed to come back home, along with his beloved family… To return into his… Their home dimension. Instead, he ended up here…

He ended up… Nowhere.

A place and a non-place at the same time… A lifeless, seemingly infinite, white space… a totally blank inexistence…

A void…

Just like what he used to be… Just like what he used to be named and referred with…

His namesake empty eyes were widened in sudden fear… A tangible and profound fear caused by the ominous and impending sense of anguish and despair that such lifeless, unending whiteness inevitably provoked to his own being… To anyone's being, for that matter.

It was one of the most common fears ever known, something that has accompanied the mental evolution of every sapient being ever born…

Fear of the Unknown… Fear of what we cannot understand or control… Fear of something that goes beyond our limited senses… The main reason of why we despise what is different from us… What we cannot comprehend.

Our most irrational side… Then again, I could be wrong. This is just what I believe… Or choose to believe.

I also believe that such irrational side will always be a part of us… Because it's what makes us… Mortals.

That's the whole point of such fear… The fear of Death. The knowledge that we all are destined to die, sooner or later…

Death is the only thing undeniably certain in our chaotic life and, ironically enough, our tremendous fear over it, it's what could possibly prevent us to enjoy the gift of Life… All because we have such knowledge.

And right now, the Seedrian known as Void, was experiencing this ominous sensation… 100 times worse.

There used to be a period in his life, in which he desired to die due to the massive sufferance he endured… Because of Chaos, or maybe, because of a deranged author who could not escape from his own Chaos, either… But right now, Void wanted to live, he wanted to feel life in all of its splendor.

The only problem… He could very well be dead.

It happened so fast he couldn't even remember the whens or hows. It was totally uncalled for (just like Death used to be sometimes), one moment he was about to enter an inter-dimensional portal along with his family… And the moment after, he woke up right here…

If there was a "here", that is.

He was like a lost child in a living nightmare… A blank one.

He would have screamed if his own voice would have not been suppressed by his own frightened state.

And once again, he felt himself engulfed by the utter emptiness he lived all his life with… Only this time, he was not accustomed to it…

He fell on the inexistent ground, hugging his knees and shaking like the aforementioned lost child he had become.

Those previous unanswered questions violently mauled his mind again…

Why was he there? Was this even a place? Was he dead? What happened to his family?

He was about to cry his despair out of his black eyes when… Something happened.

A music… A flute like theme started to play seemingly out of nowhere… Or from everywhere in this nowhere, I should say.

It was so melodic and amusing… So peaceful, so… Childish?

Void had no idea what this music was or where exactly it came from… But for some reason, its soft and reassuring melody managed to calm the Seedrian a little. He raised from his sitting position and stood tall on his feet, trying to learn this song… Trying to understand it, to better feel it… To simply enjoy it?

And then, something else happened… Or better, someone.

A figure, a silhouette began to slowly appear a few inches away from where the lost plant boy used to be… Void found himself reasonably taken aback by such apparition.

Gradually, this figure's form became clear… As well as the source of the mysterious music.

It came out from this being's flute… Only, there was no visible flute in the being's hands… But that didn't prevent it to play it, it seemed.

Void's eyes were widened and his mouth was agape… There it was, this strange, seemingly feminine, creature, right in front of him.

It appeared to be taller than the lost Seedrian boy used to be… Yet, for some reason, he did not felt intimidated by its form, he felt himself attracted, instead.

It wore a weird, colorful, almost festive, dress… Red on its torso, purple and pink on its slender legs and feet, and a white material on its arms. Its white gloved hands and little mouth were still playing with the invisible flute, which was still producing that harmonious melody. Its face was round and lacked of a nose… Just like him! Finally, it had a rather curious, two long tailed, purple and black hat…

All in all, this being looked like some kind of a… Jester.

Suddenly, the music stopped. The seemingly impossible to define creature stopped its rather appreciated flute session and fixed its on gaze over the bewildered plant in front of it.

It had a couple of gorgeous, bright, lively azure eyes…

Void found himself unable to move or even breath… He felt himself drawn to those eyes… So pure and shiny… Due to his peculiar ability to read into others soul, Void could see that this being meant no harm towards him… But that's basically the only thing it would let him know.

Another thing that the plant boy could not understand… Was its effective gender.

He didn't know if it was male or a female… As far as those genders could be considered universal… Which could very well not be the case, here.

It had a feminine beauty… Yet, at the same time, it could be mistaken for a young effeminate boy.

One thing was certain… This doubt would have certainly created a lot of problems… Grammatically speaking.

He / she simply smiled at him, as if catching Void's current shyness… Which happened to be quite visible on his now blushed cheeks.

The Seedrian tried to recollect himself.

"W-who are you?" He finally asked to his new guest.

In response to the boy's question, the jester politely bowed him / herself (as I said, blasted grammatical problems) in sign of reverence and then, showed him a fine piece of plasticized paper he / she pulled out from nowhere.

Void timidly picked up the piece of paper from the jester's amazingly soft hand. Once in his huge, deformed appendage, the Seedrian could read the name that was written on it…

This being's name…

_**NiGHTS.**_

_**Professional jester and freelance dream guide.**_

Void diverted his empty gaze from the paper and once again fixed it on his festive looking guest… Genuine bewilderment was visibly on his face.

"So… You're name is… NiGHTS. Right?" He questioned, in order to be sure of it.

Himshe nodded. It seemed that himshe could understand his language.

I know… Himshe is not a real pronoun or word for that matter, but that's the way I'm going to refer to this apparently genderless creature in order to avoid anymore grammatical nightmares… Or at least, some of them… So get used to it!

"Errr… Can you talk?" Void asked again.

Himshe shook his/her head, this time.

Void sighed.

"Ok… My name is Void. Nice to meet you, NiGHTS. Can you help me?" He politely said.

At this, the feminine jester known as NiGHTS put on his/her best reassuring smile and offered his/her hand to the Seedrian…

Void thought about it for a couple of seconds before deciding to actually put his own deformed hand (for which he felt rather embarrassed) into his/her perfectly shaped one…

The massive electric shock that invaded Void's body after such act did manage to remind him that he was dealing with a jester…

Void hastily retreated his busted hand from the violet joker's one, who immediately started to giggle his/her girlish giggle right in the face of the now sour looking and slight angered Seedrian…

Then, himshe just showed a little round device himshe had on his/her hand… The old trick of the electrified hand… A prank master's classic.

Himshe was still chuckling at the tricked boy's expenses.

"Why you little…" Before he could even finish the sentence, the Seedrian looking jester just flew high above his reach. "EHI!!! COME BACK HERE!!!" Void yelled… Only to receive a huge childish grimace in response…

NiGHTS was making faces at him… Void was not amused by such infant behavior… Not at all.

Suddenly, the floating jester stopped his playful insulting session and looked her surroundings… Himshe noticed the infinite and lifeless whiteness this non-place was engulfed with and that made her sad.

Sadness was clearly visible in his/her gaze, in his/her big azure eyes… It was as if himshe could feel such void inside his/her own being… It was so depressing and horrible… All this blankness… All this nothingness.

A few tears descended from his/her beautiful eyes. Void could see this from where he was and felt bad for himshe… He understood better than anyone else, what living inside a void was all about…

Then, without pre-advice, a huge grin found its way in the flying jester's mouth as himshe started to fly randomly in the inexistent sky… And suddenly, it was inexistent no more…

A big blue sky appeared out of the pure nothingness this non-place used to be… It had clouds and birds and everything a real sky was supposed to have… But that was just the beginning.

As long as the dream like jester would fly, other things would appear… Trees would quickly become woods… Flowers would quickly become flower fields… Rivers would quickly become lakes.

Apparently, it was all his/her doing… The doing of his/her flying… Or better, dance.

And there himshe were… Dancing freely in the sky… Feeling and enjoying life for what it was… Filling this former void.

In the Seedrian's soul… It all felt so genuine and pure… So perfect… Just like a…

"… A very good dream."

Precisely.

"What!?" Void abruptly snapped out of his state of constant marvel to look over the direction of the sudden voice…

His namesake gaze fixed itself on the strange figure of a certain purple weasel / wolf like creature with a canvas hat, a belt and a huge tooth that came out from his mouth…

And Fang the Sniper just grinned.

"Hello there, Void… We finally meet." The infamous agent of Chaos politely greeted.

And the Seedrian just frowned.


	2. Chapter 2

**2.**

There they stood, in the now green fresh grass that quickly became the colorful ground of this former void of a world… A rather surprised Seedrian and a sly looking cowboy.

The place they were in was changing… Where previously stood pure nothingness, now stood lively brightness.

All so joyful… All so pure… Just like a child's dream… Or at least, the average idea of a child's dream.

Slowly, Void started to feel this change on his own being… He felt his body growing stronger by the minute… Feeling and absorbing the energies from Nature. The impending sense of despair was vanishing from his heart and soul… Idealistically speaking, the genuine filling sensation the Seedrian was experiencing mirrored the sudden forestation process that engulfed the previous nothingness this weird place used to be.

Even though this nature he was currently feeding from, could have been just an illusion… A dream. Then again, the difference between reality and fiction it's not something that we can give for granted… For what we know, our own reality could have been someone else's dream… Or vice-versa… Or anything else… Or nothing at all.

What is Reality? An absolute concept? A relative point of view? Both of them? None of them?

Again, the only possible answers for questions like these, are the ones an individual choose to believe in… Or maybe, not to believe at all.

In other words: Life cannot be fully understood… Only imagined in the way one choose to do… And this is what I choose to believe… For now.

There will always be doubts, of course… But one should be free to ignore them, if one wanted to or believe he/her wanted to.

Therefore, despite the un-avoiding doubts about this place's (or should I say, non-place) credibility… In Void's point of view, the energies his body felt were more than real.

An emotion he was not accustomed to, have made its way inside his infamous namesake emptiness…

Joy.

He was feeling joyful for whatever reason he could not explain nor he cared to comprehend… It was an irrational and inexplicable yet, pure and genuine euphoria.

It was like a re-birth… A painless one.

And all thanks to that mysterious androgynous jester and his/her childish and carefree gravity defying dance…

It was somehow refreshing to see that even the undeniable concept of Gravity could be defied in the chaotic world we live in… Or at least, in our inner world… Where we are powerful like Gods… But also feeble and pure like infants.

Where we could be ourselves without the mediation operated by Logic and Rationality… Which are also part of our conflicted being... As I understand… Or believe to understand.

If this place was someone's dream world, then such reasoning would have made sense… Which would lead into another disfiguring paradox per se, since the only sense in Chaos would be its non-sense… And so on with the paradoxes.

There himshe was… The Seedrian like flying being known as NiGHTS, having fun with the beautiful things himshe just created out from the former blankness this non-place used to be…

Chasing little birds.

Climbing high trees.

Smelling flowers… How did himshe manage to do it since himshe didn't have a nose, slipped the mind of the curious plant boy…

Himshe eventually got tired of it and simply lay on the grassy ground, taking a solar bath from the newly made sun.

Void couldn't help but admire the ambiguous flute player… So playful and carefree… So free.

The sudden sound of Fang's voice interrupted Void's current Hong Kong express of thoughts.

"She's done a good job with this place… Although I would prefer landmines instead of flowers… But that's just me." He said with a matter-of-factly expression.

The plant boy's attention spam was captured by the use of a certain pronoun in that last sentence.

"She? Is that jester a female?" He asked not hinting the eager curiosity he had towards that creature.

Fang smirked.

"Do you believe she's a female?" He asked back.

Void tilted his head, clearly confused by such comeback, then decided to answer.

"Uhmmm… Yes?" He tried.

"So be it." The other simply muttered. "Inside our dreams, anyone can be anything."

That… Was kind of weird, as Void could tell.

"What is she, anyway?"

Fang uncrossed his arms, fixed his hat, tinkered with his belt, scratched his chin, yawned, pretended to be distracted by something else for a few minutes… In other words, he took his sweet time… Before finally answering… A straight answer, for once.

"She is the metaphorical representation of childhood's dreams and imagination… She's here because this particular dream desperately needed to be saved as you could see."

Void could see it. He could see it all too well, actually. Fang continued.

"After all, if there is someone who knows about pure emptiness, that would be you… The Void within anyone's soul… You're torments have been quite the entertainment, I have to say." He added with a mischievous smile.

At this… Void realized a few things.

He realized who this person was… And who was this dream's owner.

The one individual that caused all of his sufferance and pain… All of his grief and angst… And all for making half decent stories.

"You… You're the Author, aren't you!? And this is your dream, right?" He almost muttered as in fear of losing his own voice due to the rampaging amount of feelings his soul was experiencing… None of them were pleasant.

A very huge grin made its way on Fang's lips as he pronounced his average answer… Which was never a straight one, for that matter.

"Close… Let's just say I'm part of him… I'm his ego! Oh wait… Wasn't I the Id? Or maybe the superego? Drat… I can't remember it. Oh well, guess I'll have to improvise!" He crossed his arms and closed his eyes in deep thought for a few seconds, then concluded. "I'm the metaphorical representation of the Author's inner chaos… Or anyone else's for that matter! Yes, that sounds important… Maybe a little bit generalized but… Whatever!" He nodded to himself.

Void, however, was visibly annoyed. He was tempted to say that his reasoning made no sense at all… Then he remembered where he was and thought otherwise… That annoyed him even more.

He decided to change the topic.

"Why am I here? Is the Author bored again or what?" He asked, with an annoyed tone of course.

Fang just sighed.

"He's having the Writer's Block and you happened to be the main object of his latest stories... That's why you're here… To supposedly be involved in another novel. The only problem is that his mind has been completely drained of inspiration... That's why this world used to be blank… Because he lacked the imagination to fill it."

Now THAT was unexpected…

"Writer's Block?" The Seedrian repeated, in utter surprise.

"Or maybe it's the other way around… He's faking Writer's Block in order to make a story that would talk about it… That would be clever… Too clever for him." The cowboy dressed creature thought out loud. "As a matter of fact, I don't think he's ever had a great imagination… I mean, he's making stories with characters and locations he didn't even invent!" He added in seemingly realization. "That's probably the reason of why that jester is here… To fill the void of his imagination with childish innocence… But of course, I could be wrong." He said while pointing his gloved hand over the sleeping form of NiGHTS a few meters away from where both him and his interlocutor used to stand.

Void gave another good look at the fascinating form of that being… A waterfall of questions popped out of his mind, some old (like the ever lasting one about his/her gender) and some new…

"So… How can I leave this place… This dream that failed to dream itself?" He suddenly asked.

Fang grinned, his huge namesake awfully visible.

"Just like any character of any average storyline… You'll have to find out yourself how to overcome the inevitable obstacles. In this case, the biggest obstacle of all… Lack of inspiration." He said, not hiding a genuine amount of glee. "If I were you, I would try to cooperate with her in order to succeed… She's probably the key of all this chaotic mess… For now, we shall separate."

"Wait… Where are you going?" The Seedrian asked worriedly.

The other just shrugged.

"Wherever Chaos would bring me to… In other words: I'll improvise!" And with that said, the chaotic enigma known as Fang (or as the Author's inner chaos) just disappeared into the famous nothingness he came from… The hidden, twisted side of anyone's mind… But of course, I could be wrong.

Void sighed quite audibly, it seemed he was blocked there with a would be story set and an androgynous jester…

Suddenly, an out-of-nowhere vanilla pie splattered itself over the distraught Seedrian's face and a certain floating genderless buffoon started to laugh his/her pants out in pure delight.

… An androgynous annoying jester, that is.


	3. Chapter 3

**3.**

For the casual observer, these two individuals would have seem to be the perfect opposites…

One was a joyful, playful and childish jester who's only worries were about having fun and being carefree…

The other one was a dark dressed, moody individual who's life hadn't been easy at all… To put it euphemistically.

In a way, these two seemed to complete each other… Also because of the symbolical roles they were currently playing in the failed would be story they ended up in… Or should I say, failed dream of a failed would be story.

Philosophically speaking, these two peculiar beings could very well be considered the metaphorical representation of this world's balance… A balance sustained by two contrasting forces…

Yin and Yang…

Light and Darkness…

Good and Evil…

NiGHTS and Void could very well be all those things, for the casual observer. Two perfect antipodes, therefore two faces of the same coin… Opposite yet, inseparable.

The classical dysfunctional functional couple… Or the best nemesis of each other.

And apparently, that seemed to be their chosen roles in this Chaosforsaken story…

The carefree purple jester was the metaphorical embodiment of all the genuine childish emotions… While the black eyed Seedrian used to represent the infamous, yet indispensable, namesake emptiness caused by the so-called negative feelings… He was the Void within everyone's soul.

The question now is… What would possibly be the Author's intensions towards these two? Were they meant to get along together and fight some external threat… Perhaps, someone who's trying to take over the balanced chaos that lay inside every whole individual for some demented reason? Or maybe, something else… More tragic?

Was the Author's intention to recreate the classical struggle between the forces of Good and Evil, between the very Light and Darkness that composed our being? Were NiGHTS and Void meant to be… Eternal enemies?

No… Probably not. The Author does not usually believe for things to be that easy… It is his belief, that the overused concept of Good and Evil is just a matter of point of views and relativity… That our world and our inner worlds, are not simply colored in white and black… He believes, metaphorically speaking, in clusters of colors… In rainbows, one would say.

In other words, whether these two could or could not be (since I could be wrong about the proper interpretation of this failed dream) what they seemed to be… They were not just pale reflexes of the sides they both represented… They were whole individuals as well… With their own feelings and emotions, dreams and hopes… With their own clusters of colors, I might say.

NiGHTS used to act just like the average innocent vision one could have about children… Himshe was childish and immature yet… Himshe could also feel sadness, especially when himshe first witnessed the despairing blankness this place used to be made of… That, alone, said a lot about this curious being.

Void, as we already know, was a very complicated person who suffered his all life and simply couldn't help it… He's been crushed by a role he didn't choose to have in the first place… He was born with that name… The name that would constantly remind him of his own sorrows… Yet, idealistically speaking, the negative emotions he embodied, were also the ones that could eventually push a strong enough person to try and overcome them… In order to fill that infamous emptiness…

Because, in the end… Through Love and Joy, and Pain and Sorrow… We are reminded of one fundamental thing…

We can feel… Therefore we are alive.

Now that I think about it… This could very well be what the Author wanted to do before that disfiguring Writer's Block hit him… But, as always, I'm just hypothesizing.

Like it or not, Void was locked inside that pathetic excuse of a dream and the only way he could hope to escape it was to, somehow, finish the story…

The only problem was… He did not have a clue of what to do… Just like any oblivious protagonist of any kind of tale… And to be honest, his forced companion wasn't really helping the cause.

To Void's utter dismay, the Seedrian jester like creature seemed to have a fondness over tricks, pranks, pointless jokes and all sort of things…

During the last few minutes of, let's say, friendly companionship, the very distressed plant boy has been put through a lot of demeaning overused gags by the ambiguous buffoon:

Water spurting fake flowers;

Bouncing Boxe gloves;

Water balloons;

Even the infamous banana peel trick… An entire van of them, in this case.

And Void, being the only one being in the universe who never watched cartoons, inevitably fell for any of them… And every time it happened, the whole place was filled with the jester's hysterical laughs of amusement.

To say that the Seedrian was annoyed would have been considered a fairly understatement… He was really starting to be pissed off by her immature behavior…

Her? Did he think at the creature as a her? Apparently, he did decide to follow Fang's suggestion and "picked" a gender for NiGHTS… That will definitely guarantee us a more enjoyable grammatical experience, from now on.

Void was sitting on the grass, trying to recollect his thoughts (and his shattered patience too), he stood in the typical deep and concentrated pose… He had his arms and legs crossed and his eyes shut. His mind was a turmoil of unanswered questions and preoccupations he couldn't help but endure… He wanted so bad to get out from this nightmare and join his family again.

It was not a secret that Void openly despised the Author and his egotistical attempt to use the plant boy's emotions in order to better understand his own self.

Couldn't this guy do something else to express his feelings? Kicking a dog or something…

_**This is all pointless… It's not like I'm going to conclude anything by simply staying here doing nothing… First thing first, I need to see if this Chaosdamned place has a border or not!**_

He opened his empty eyes and fixed them over the still flying form of his infant-brained companion…

There she was, dancing freely in the big blue dreamy sky she somehow created out of nothing… Doing somersaults and other spectacular acrobatics without a single care in the world.

Void was visibly bothered by such carefree behavior but, as he would eventually realize, his bothersome feelings towards her were caused by a more profound sentiment he could not help but acknowledge…

He envied her… He envied her apparent freedom… A freedom so pure and genuine that escaped even the undeniable boundaries of sexual genders… She (or he, if you feel like) was THAT free.

NiGHTS was everything that he never had the chance to be… A child who would enjoy being one… And children are, indeed, genderless until they would inevitably grew up and learn about other feelings… More profound ones.

A sudden feel of grief once again made its way in the Seedrian's chest… His previously annoyed and angry gaze turned into one of full commiseration… A thing that he hated but, again, couldn't help but do.

The airborne dancer above him stopped dead on her spot… As if sensing her new unwilling playmate's stinging pain. A saddened expression replaced her usual happy one while her huge watery blue eyes fixed themselves over the smaller Seedrian. She put a hand on her chest as if feeling the plant boy's current distress…

And she did, apparently, manage to feel it. For reasons she could not understand, they both seemed to be emotionally linked… Just as if they were a single individual… Again, two faces of a same coin… A whole.

Without wasting anymore time, she darted, or better, she descended, towards her hurt friend below… Eyes full of concern.

When Void realized the disrespectful invasion of his personal space operated by the feminine, two tailed hat wearing clown… His first reaction was to scowl his way out of that situation but, for motives that went beyond his comprehension, he couldn't be able to stop staring at those azure eyes… They seemed to be reassuring and concerned… Just like his mother's own used to be… A sudden feeling of empathy crossed the Seedrian's soul, it was as if he could actually sense his playful counterpart's own emotions and, right now, he could tell she was utterly worried about his wellbeing.

NiGHTS sat besides Void and hugged her knees, staring at him with new found curiosity… She wasn't usually the type of person who would even bother about pondering over something… But she did anyway, driven by a superior interest towards this little being who seemed so similar to her… And yet, so different.

Was it a genuine childish curiosity… Or something more profound? I cannot answer such question… But I do believe that these two definitely completed each other… In a spiritual way.

For the ever so noisy casual observer… It could almost seem that both Seedrians (if NiGHTS could be considered such) were sharing their own conflicting personalities with each other… They were linked… Somehow, someway.

Was that the Author's doing? Was he oblivious of the whole affair? Was that blasted Writer's Block over?

Suddenly, NiGHTS snapped out of her trance and without any pre-advice, hugged the boy tightly… Void felt taken aback by this improvise behavior but returned the hug, none the less…

After a while, the feminine jester released her hug and gave a very suspicious sly look at him… And then, realization dawned inside the woolly-head Seedrian… She had attached something on his back!

Before he could do anything, he was assaulted by a storm of angry bees who's shape resembled the one of a humongous fist… Void ran for his life in the direction of the nearest lake while the bees made Master Hand chased him with clearly nasty intentions.

NiGHTS chuckled within herself while retrieving the now dropped item she previously attached on the oblivious boy's back… A fine piece of paper with the phrase "sting me" written on it.

And once again, her chuckle turned into a hysterical laugh.

Just another pointless joke… The Writer's Block is still on… Damn it!


	4. Chapter 4

**4.**

As the hours went by, the young looking Seedrian grew ever more impatient and tired… They've been wandering around this seemingly endless fairy wood for a while, desperately looking for a border, an exit… Heck! Even the darn Author himself… But to no avail.

This delusional pointless dream of a story seemed to be utterly worthless… Ironically enough, it was all Chaos without a proper narration… Without that distinctive order that an inevitably logical device like a written story was supposed to have.

Instead, it had no plot.

No defined roles.

And, apparently, no ending.

All Chaos… Just like a random dream… And perhaps, this was just that case… Nothing more than a meaningless dream.

And then… There was her… That jester… The one who managed to cause a lot of stress to the plant boy, lately.

No doubt that she was his opposite… Yet, somehow, her playful behavior did manage to taint Void's own a little. As a matter of fact, over the last few hours, along with other more crucial matters, another thing happened to be the main object of his thoughts…

How to get back at her?

He was sick and tired to fall in all those pranks she practically launched at him… Just like that glue covered volleyball from earlier on… It was time to trick her back, as Void's sudden playful as well behavior seemed to suggest.

At first, finding himself to even think at such kidlike possibility, left him confused and shocked… It was so unlike him, to be so immature… But, just like his infamous angst, he couldn't help himself into acting differently… He would get back at his "playmate" whether he would personally like it or not.

It was a urge more than a wish.

The distraught Void looked up in the sky, only to notice the main source of his recent distresses… There she was, flying like always, filling the few empty spaces left with trees or lakes thanks to her mysterious powers… He smiled a rather sly smile and started to set the trap.

After a while, Void made his move.

"Oooooh, NiGHTS… Will you come down for a second?" He said, hardly hiding a smirk.

The oblivious dancing jester did as she was told… She was smiling sweetly and innocently, clearly unaware of the immediate danger.

At this point, Void grinned evilly.

Before the now alarmed buffoon could even register it… The Seedrian used his own powers to summon a giant carnivore plant that immediately trapped NiGHTS inside its huge mouth…

And Void started to laugh like a genocidal maniac during St. Valentine's Day while the tricked trickster struggled a bit in order to come out from that annoying plant…

He laughed…

He laughed?

He was actually laughing… And not just a normal delighted chuckle… It was the mother of all laughs!

He was actually having fun… That fact shocked the boy. He thought he had forgot what the significance of the word "fun" used to be. He thought he couldn't feel anything more than his grief and angst.

Apparently, he was deadly wrong… He managed to discover a new side of himself, a brighter side, a… Carefree… Playful… Side. His inner child. The one thing he never had the chance to be… Until he met her.

That joker… That childish being dressed like a card jack of some kind… Who was now comically struggling with that innocuous giant carnivore plant he set before…

Void knew, deep inside, that his current mood was all thanks to her.

After the laughs subsided, a genuine smile crossed his lips.

In the meantime, NiGHTS finally managed to escape the tricky vegetable freak and looked her playmate in his, somehow luminous, black eyes. She wore a sore expression and crossed her arms in a very childish way while turning her back to him.

Void couldn't help but feel guilty… Just a little bit, though… Ok, he didn't really feel guilty at all. None the less, he wanted to make things right with the now annoyed and distraught jester…

Distraught? Was she becoming like him?

Void gave a quick glance at his surroundings, until he found what he was looking for.

NiGHTS's back was still turned away from the Seedrian. She was feeling a whole new emotion, an emotion she didn't even know she had… Bitterness.

She felt bitter within herself, not just because her honor as a professional trickster has just been questioned by an amateur… But also for the fact that she was capable of feeling such emotion…

It bothered her in a way she didn't think possible. And it bothered her the fact that she could be bothered by something and so on… She's always been the happy, carefree individual that her symbolic role suggested her to be… Until she met him.

That lonely, sad, black eyed boy who would suffer for reasons she could not understand… And the one who just out-tricked her, showing and unsuspecting bright side…

He was slowly changing… Or better, improving his personality… Filling the void inside of him with new joyful emotions…

Something similar was happening to her… She used to have a void, only not the regular one… She used to lack of negative emotions, yes, she would eventually feel sad over this or that thing, but she would never feel things like bitterness or distress… Before her encounter with him.

As I said earlier… This two seemed to complete each other.

Suddenly, a certain claw like finger gently tapped NiGHTS's shoulder. She slowly turned her head to look into the eyes of her not-so appreciated playmate, her azure eyes still showing an unfair amount of boredom. Her expression, however, drastically changed when it met with Void's genuine smile and the beautiful daisy he was holding in his left hand.

"This is my way to say… Let's make a truce, shall we?" He said, with an usual light tone.

She put on a delighted and genuine smile of her own, resuming her usual personality traits. She was about to pick the flower from Void's hand when…

The daisy died and turned into ashes right in the Seedrian's deformed hand.

He was shocked. Shocked and confused.

She, on the other hand, was just frightened… Frightened by him. She took some steps back… Away from him, from the flower killer.

Void didn't know what to make of this situation… He's always been a whole with nature… Heck! He was Nature, in a way… Why did that happen? Why the flower just died in his hand? Was it really his fault?

He then raised his gaze over the form of his companion and, to his utter dismay, noticed her frightened eyes… Her scared form… Already far away from where he used to be… Already flown away from him.

And, for the umpteenth time, he felt it… The sufferance, the distress, the grief… The namesake emptiness.

And a very sad realization dawned inside his heart.

"So… This is my role in this story, uhu? I'm the Evil One?" He muttered.

"Yes… You are."

Void turned his head over the familiar voice. There he was. His host. Fang the Sniper… Huge namesake and all.

"That means… That the Writer's Block is over?" The Seedrian asked, already savoring the bitter taste of the possible answer.

Fang nodded.

"It seems that this is going to be the classical recreation of the eternal dichotomy between Good and Evil, after all. In order to end this story… Or better, this dream of a possible story, you'll have to fight each other… To Death!!!" He added while smiling mischievously. "It's the only way for this dream to end… And for this tale to born."

Void clenched his fists and bit his lips into bleeding. He didn't want to do this… He didn't give a damn about what a crazy writer without imagination wanted… He was not his puppet… He was not the puppet of his inner chaos… Not anymore!

Fang noticed the defying expression the plant boy put on… And grinned.

"Perhaps, you didn't understand… YOU HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE!!!" He yelled.

Suddenly… Something happened to the Seedrian… His body started to turn… To transform… To deform and to re-form.

Under the now more frightened than ever gaze of a very confused and worried NiGHTS and the cunning grin of a delighted Sniper… The being formerly known as Void… Was no more.

On his place, a whole new creature stood. It was as tall as NiGHTS used to be. It wore a red and black dress and a red and black jester like hat. It had a golden persona on his face and a rather evil smile crossed his now lipstick black mouth.

All in all, it looked like a wicked and deranged version of NiGHTS herself… Which seemed to be paralyzed with terror.

He was now, her perfect nemesis.

She was Dream.

He was Nightmare.

Was really this what the Author wanted? Did he let himself to be driven by his own chaos into making this? Does this story have a meaning at all? I mean… What's up with Void's new aspect? This is just getting more confusing…

Without wasting anymore time… The creature of nightmares attacked… And the purple jester stood no chance.

She's been beaten…

She's been mauled and wounded…

Unmercifully and unforgivably…

She felt all of her former playmate's wrath… And so, the dream did.

The lively forest they flew above, slowly turned into a barren wasteland... The lakes and the trees died within a blink of an eye... Death and Destruction overcame.

NiGHTS lay on the spoiled ground… Severely hurt and nearly unconscious… Blood all over her body.

When the Nightmaren (Nightmaren? Where did that name come from? Oh well…) once known as Void seemed to be ready for the final strike… Fang said something that froze him.

"Yes… YES! Finish her… Once this chaotic childish dream shall be over… Order shall arise!!!"

Did Fang… Fang the Sniper, the embodiment of Chaos… Just say… "Order shall arise?"

Slowly, the creature turned his head over the smirking form of the Sniper… And noticed something that utterly confirmed his suspects… He saw his shadow… It was bigger and deformed… Definitely not Fang's silhouette.

His own body reacted at this new knowledge and immediately turned back into Void's average form.

He took some steps towards his "host", took a deep breath and spoke.

"You're not Fang the Sniper, are you? You're the one who caused the Writer's Block!!" He practically yelled.

The face of "Fang", from a perpetual grin, abruptly changed into a bemused frown.

"Show me your real face!" Void insisted.

"Tsk… And to think that I'd almost made it, this time!"

With that said… He let his masquerade to melt… revealing his true self.

A purple / black cloaked vest…

A crablike clawed hand…

A single head horn…

And a long white beard…

The Seedrian's eyes widened more in anger than sheer amazement, while fixing themselves on the un-mistakable, grinning form of the Writer's Block himself… The one who already tried to steal the Author's position… The one that caused all those troubles to Void and the people he loved… His step father…

Ixis Naugus.

"It's been a while… Son!" The sharp teethed sorcerer greeted.

"I'm not your son…" He said, utter disgust showed on his facial features. "What are you doing here? I thought my REAL father and his friends destroyed you…" He added, not quite understanding how he was aware of such information since he wasn't even there when that happened… Oh well, who cares?

Naugus grinned even more.

"HA! I cannot be destroyed! Just like any fictional character of any story… As long as I would be remembered, I will continue to exist!!"

That was quite an inconvenience.

"What's your evil plan, this time?" Asked the now short-tempered Seedrian.

"Isn't it obvious? I took control over the Author's inner chaos right when he started to dream about this forsaken plot!"

"Why did you do that?"

"Because…" Naugus started to say only to find himself without words.

Void smirked.

"You don't know why you did it, do you? You've been poisoned by your own Writer's Block, isn't it?"

The sorcerer didn't like his former apprentice's sudden smartassness… Not a single bit.

"HOW DARE YOU DEFY ME!!!? YOU WILL DIE HERE!!!"

Now… If this was an average story of the Author, it would have probably ended this way:

Void and NiGHTS would fuse their bodies together, becoming a whole… A lame physical materialization of all those previous pointless metaphors about those two completing each other and stuff… Then they would beat the hell out of Ixis Naugus, disposing of the awful Writer's Block and letting this story (or dream of a story) to finally end… Some rather banal moral would be placed in the ending credits along side with some lame music who would happen to be linked with the story's themes, and, of course, the average open finale which would lead into yet another worthless sequel…

This is probably what could or would happen IF the Author didn't have the Writer's Block…

Unfortunately, he had it… So this is what happened instead… Or at least, this is what I believe, or choose to believe, is happened:

The REAL Fang the Sniper… As far as realistic a fictional character can be… Came out of nowhere and shoot Ixis Naugus in the head with his beloved trademark handgun. The sorcerer fell on the ground, dead.

Void gave an odd look at the new comer, who just shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

"I always hated that control freak… Oh! And by the way. Since this story had no future, the Author just decided to get it over with…" He fixed his hat and scratched his chin in the typical non-chalance way, before adding the last and most important part. "In other words, this idiotic dream will never turn into a real story… Therefore you are free to go."

Void couldn't believe his own ears. It was over? Just like that? It has all been a gigantic waste of time? Just another pointless plot who will never see the light of an actual storyline? Why were himself and NiGHTS involved in this has been failed dream of a story, to begin with?

And then, he remembered…

"NiGHTS!!!" He screamed in panic… She's been mauled when he was in that Nightmaren form.

As if on cue, the perfectly fine shape of the jester flew besides him. She, somehow, seemed to be healed from all of her previous injuries… She sweetly smiled at him and he just hugged her in response of his immense relief. She hugged him back.

"As I said, this story is over… Therefore, the wounds she sustained just disappeared… Pretty convenient, isn't it?" Fang added.

Void released the embraced and turned his head over the Sniper.

"What happens now?" He rightfully asked.

"You two will return into your own worlds… While this one shall return from the chaos it came from… The Author's one." And right before vanishing, the enigma known as fang greeted the Seedrian with a sentence that instantly caused him to shiver… "I'll see you in another story… Or another dream of a story… Farewell, oh not-so void one."

Soon after his disappearance… The whole world they stood in, ceased to exist… If it has existed at all… If it wasn't just a pale excuse of a world born from a failed plot of a blocked mind… Which probably was…

But still… Some doubt remained.

Void couldn't help but think that all this experience hadn't just been a waste of time and imagination… Because he get to meet her.

Perhaps… He will never understand if their presence in the Author's dream was truly wanted or not…

Better yet, he'll probably never know what (or if) that has been would be story had a goal to pursuit… An important existential theme to exploit or whatever… And he'll probably never know what his and NiGHTS's true role were supposed to be in such cluster of a plot… If it had a goal, to begin with.

He sighed within himself… It no longer mattered. All that mattered is that he had to meet her… This joyful, childish jester who's been capable to fill his namesake emptiness (as well as that dream's own) with all those genuine feelings and emotions his childhood have been deprived of…

In a way, this story has not been totally worthless… On the contrary, it has been useful for him to better grow up as an individual and a person…

Therefore… It has been useful for the Author too… Another step to add into his eternal self-discovery journey… A journey that, luckily, will never end… As long as he will continue to dream…

As long as anybody will continue to dream… And to feel… And to think…

As long as anybody will continue to be… Whole.

The dark dressed Seedrian and the bright purple jester stood in the middle of pure nothingness… Not the same white paper like blankness ready to be draw with a pencil, from before… This time, it was the pure blackness that lay between dimensions.

They looked each other into their eyes… Black, void (yet, somehow more lively then ever) eyes into azure, bright ones.

Just like any average story, it was the time for the tearful goodbyes… The kind of goodbyes that are never farewells… Because they knew, deep down, that they would meet again…

Somehow, someway, somewhere, sometime.

She smiled at her littler friend with tearful eyes, already missing him… His new favorite playmate and, in her point of view, a potential jester too.

He smiled back to her… No words needed to be shared. No sounds needed to be made… They already knew everything that was needed to be known…

After one last embrace, the two different, yet similar beings, departed from each other…

And, as if on cue, a certain song started to play out of nowhere… Which happened to be linked with the current themes.

* * *

_**In a dream I could see**_

_**You are not far away**_

_**Any time, any place**_

_**I can see your face**_

_**You are that special one**_

_**That I've been waiting for**_

_**And I hope you're lookin' for someone like me**_

As the lyrics suggested… It almost seemed as if their entire life was meant for them to encounter each other… To fill each other's void… To mature and grew up as individuals.

_**In my dreams, I can hear you callin' me**_

_**In the night, everything's so sweet**_

_**In your eyes, I feel there's so much inside **_

_**In the nights, dream delight**_

_**I want to see you standing there**_

_**In the nights, dream delight**_

_**I've found someone who really cares**_

_**In the nights, dream delight**_

_**I want to see you smile again**_

_**In the nights, dream delight**_

_**You're the one I've waited for **_

I doubt that, at this point, further comments are needed… It is all perfectly clear… Or at least I think it is… Which could be wrong.

_**In a dream we can do**_

_**Everything we want to**_

_**There's nowhere I'd rather be**_

_**But here with you**_

_**The stars above light the way**_

_**Only for you and I**_

_**I'm so glad I've found the one I've been lookin' for **_

_**Keep the dream of the one you're hoping for**_

_**Love can come through an open door**_

_**Just be strong and you're sure to find the one **_

And so… They both entered their own chosen portals… Their hearts full of sadness yet, also full of hope… They knew they would meet again…

Because they completed each other.

Because they were…

A whole.

_**In the nights, dream delight**_

_**I want to see you standing there**_

_**In the nights, dream delight**_

_**I've found someone who really cares**_

_**In the nights, dream delight**_

_**I want to see you smile again**_

_**In the nights, dream delight**_

_**You're the one I've waited for **_

_**In the nights, dream delight**_

_**I want to see you standing there**_

_**In the nights, dream delight**_

_**I've found someone who really cares**_

_**In the nights, dream delight**_

_**I want to see you smile again**_

_**In the nights, dream delight**_

_**You're the one I've waited for**_

**The End**

* * *

"Wait a minute!"

What is it, Void?

"When NiGHTS was hurt, back in that dream…"

Yes?

"She bled… GREEN BLOOD!!!"

……

* * *

**Somewhere, inside someone's mind…**

_So long… Brother. _Thought NiGHTS… The Seedrian jester of dreams.

Here's your open finale!


End file.
